# What Were The Straigh-8 Engines of the 1950's like?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-straigh-8-engines-of-the-1950s-like/539208>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 12, 2010, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-straigh-8-engines-of-the-1950s-like/539208 "2010-05-12T19:15:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-straigh-8-engines-of-the-1950s-like/539208/21 "2010-05-14T22:00:11Z")

</div>

> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#):
>
> That is a truly impressive and dangerous speed for such a car. Now days it is not uncommon to find consumer tires rated for 150mph, but tire blow out at high speed on insufficient tires used to be a significant danger to the lives of teenagers who didn’t know any better.
> 
> Yes, I’ve driven that fast. It’s fun, but it was on straight, smooth road with zero traffic on a clear day. And with a car and tires designed to run like that.

One of my heroes is Glenn Hammond Curtiss who, before he got into airplanes, designed and built a air-cooled V-8 motorcycle and set a land speed record of 136 mph.

[In 1907](http://patentpending.blogs.com/patent_pending_blog/2006/02/the_griffon_mot.html).

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Snnipe\_70E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@Snnipe\_70E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snnipe_70E)\
**Post date:** [May 15, 2010, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-straigh-8-engines-of-the-1950s-like/539208/22 "2010-05-15T00:50:31Z")

</div>

> [@Kevbo](#):
>
> Straight engines are still quite practical when the cylinder count is low, or where low rpm operation is preferable, such as diesels and especially marine diesels. Large ships often need extremely low rpm, and a heavy engine just offsets some of the ballast they’d otherwise carry. Inline engines also allow greatly simplified exhaust and intake plumbing when OTR truck engines are turbocharged and inter cooled, which in modern practice they typically are. The vast majority of tractor-trailer rigs you’ll encounter on US interstates have a turbo-charged, inter cooled I-6 under the hood.
> 
> (the whole train).

On marine engines weight is a consideration. The engines are designed to drop every pound that can be dropped. Added weight to the main or auxallary engines means less frieght.

Also most marine engines are cross head engines. And a lot are double acting. I am not sure this could be done with a V engine.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-straigh-8-engines-of-the-1950s-like/539208.md?page=1)